The present invention relates generally to a gutter bracket for holding a water-retaining gutter of the type conventionally found along the roof of a building, and is particularly directed to an adjustable gutter bracket which may be secured to a rafter extension rather than a soffit panel or a fascia panel of a building.
Different buildings are designed and constructed with various roofing structures. Gutter assemblies are generally attached to the exterior surfaces of the roofing structures such that rainwater flowing from the roof is directed into the gutter. While some buildings are constructed with fascia panels or soffit panels covering the rafters, many architectural building types are constructed with exposed rafters and rafter extensions. Gutter brackets designed for attaching to fascia or soffit panel roofing structures are unsuitable for use with exposed rafters due to their shape, design, and mounting assemblies. Existing brackets that are mounted on rafter extensions must be affixed either to the end of the rafter extension or to one side of the rafter extension. Obviously, end attachments and single-side attachments to a rafter extension are not as secure as attachments that are secured to both sides of a rafter extension. The brackets that are attached to the end of the rafter extension are generally screwed or nailed into the end grain of the wood, at the end of the rafter extension. Those attachments are temporary and undesirable because nails and screws pointed in the direction of the wood grain tend to fall out due to the lack of wood grain resistance. Similarly, the brackets that attach to only one side of the rafter may detach due to inadequate fastening. Moreover, the single-side fastening brackets are generally designed with the gutter support arm too close to the side of the rafter extension,fostering rotting and decay by the rainwater of the rafter extension and attached building. Other gutter brackets require attachment to the roof sheathing and therefore cannot be attached once the roof shingles are in place without having to remove the roof shingles. Analogously, the complex nature of the installation required for existing brackets pose problems when gutter systems or brackets are maintained, removed, or replaced.
In many applications, it is desirable to mount a gutter bracket on an exposed area that is in full open view. In those applications, it is imperative that the brackets have aesthetic value in order to be useful. However, many brackets that attach to a rafter extension have no aesthetic value and are designed to be concealed by other fixtures.
I solved these problems with a one-piece gutter bracket described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,936. In particular, my gutter bracket is intended for installation on roofs having rafter extensions for roofing structures without soffit or fascia panels. The simple, one-piece gutter bracket is capable of being mounted upon both sides of a rafter extension without soffit panels or fascia panels, providing an aesthetically pleasing method for installing gutters.
Although my one-piece gutter bracket provided numerous advantages over existing gutter brackets, I have noted in most instances that rafter extensions vary in thickness, orientation and clearance to other building structures. In addition, in some instances, it is desirable that the gutter bracket arm be displaced from a central mounting position from the end of the rafter extension.
Consequently, a significant and imperative need exists for an improved gutter bracket that can adjustably accommodate various types and sizes of rafter extensions.
The present invention addresses these and other shortcoming in the prior art by providing a gutter bracket that adjustably expandably mounts to a rafter extension to accommodate rafter extensions of varying thicknesses. In addition, various configurations of the gutter bracket transformably accommodate various alignments and orientations of the rafter extension, including obstacles that may impede installation of a gutter bracket. Thereby, an improved gutter bracket system may be used on a wider variety of buildings.
In one aspect of the invention, a gutter bracket includes a gutter support arm for holding a conventional water-retaining, water-deflecting gutter. An expandable mounting portion of the bracket connects two flanges to one another and attaches to the gutter support arm. The flanges are configured for being affixed to each side of the rafter extension with the expandable mounting portion passing by a distal end of the rafter extension. The expandable mounting portion allows the flanges to be spaced to accommodate rafter extensions of various thicknesses.
In another aspect of the invention, a gutter bracket system is presented for mounting onto a building having rafter extensions that are not aligned or that are partially inaccessible due to structure. The gutter bracket system includes half brackets, each including a flange affix to one side of the rafter extension with a half web panel that orients a gutter support arm out of the plane of the affixed flange, such as a lateral offset or an angled (rather than parallel) arrangement. Thereby, the half brackets may be used in combination or singularly as required to install a gutter system onto the entire building, to include hip rafters, rafters with an obstacle aligned with the end of the rafter, and rafters up against a wall on one side.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a gutter bracket includes a cleated attachment between the flanges that are attached to the rafter extension and to the gutter support arm that supports the gutter. Thereby, the gutter support arm is readily attachable and detachable to the building. This allows additional flexibility when access is required to the rafter extension. Moreover, gutter systems may choose to mount a plurality of gutter bracket arms to a length of gutter, utilizing the cleated attachment as a means of installing or uninstalling the length of gutter as a unit. With this added flexibility, a user may choose to partially detach a cleated attachment to allow the length of gutter to droop, enhancing access for cleaning.